MacRumors is reporting that Apple is now letting in 3rd party browsers into the iTunes app store.

Over the past 24 hours, Apple has begun to approve 3rd party web browsing applications for the iPhone. A number of new web browsing apps have suddenly appeared with original submission dates ranging as far back as October.

While Apple has made no official acknowledgements, it appears these applications were likely in a special queue awaiting for approval. We had seen a similar “group” delays with other categories of apps. The most notable example involved flatulence applications such as Pull My Finger and iFart Mobile. Once Apple decided to allow the category within the App Store, a backlog of apps quickly appeared.

Hopefully this will help put to rest the vocal minority of critics who chastise Apple for not blindly letting in every app submission under the sun. The App Store is still relatively new, and Apple is still finding its bearings. After the disaster that was MobileMe, it’s not surprising that Apple is taking a little bit longer to review apps like browsers before letting them in. Patience my friends, patience.